


Little Wing

by NekoBemura



Category: Supernatural
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-09 09:29:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1977765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoBemura/pseuds/NekoBemura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After finding a kitten on the side of the road, Dean takes him home to care for him. Cas, in the form of a graceless young feline, learns about human life through Dean, and experiences new emotions and discoveries which will help both him and Dean in the near future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Have You Ever Seen the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really sorry if this doesn't seem very good yet, but I can promise that future chapters will be more interesting! Feel free to let me know how it is!

Dean walked quickly to his car, trying to avoid the rain drizzling down from the sleeted grey skies above. He wasn’t paying much attention to anything but the thought that his leather seats would still be warm from the earlier sun, but the loud children on the opposite side of the road easily caught his attention.

Looking up, he saw three or four kids surrounding something on the ground. Figuring they found some sort of bug, Dean shrugged and put his key in his car door, unlocking it.

“I’m gonna poke it.”

“Dude, you’re not gonna poke it with a stick!”

“Come on, Mark, it’s just a cat. Don’t be a baby.”

Dean shook his head lightly, smiling at the familiar conversation, before stopping abruptly, his car door open.

A cat?

Dean had never cared much for cats. He had a dog once, but that was a long time ago, when he was about fifteen, and it was more of his brother’s dog to begin with. But cats weren’t very playful or cuddly; they were generally standoffish and cold, and Dean had never understood their allure.

But there remained the fact that cats were still living animals, and where Dean was concerned, that meant he couldn’t let a group of boys poke it with a stick. Well, assuming that it was alive, of course. In his experience, poking dead things was generally more fun than poking live things, mostly because he didn’t have to worry about getting his eye clawed out.

Shutting his door with a thump, he jogged across the street to where the boys were currently searching for a long, sturdy stick.

“Hey! Leave it alone!” he yelled, feeling strangely like an adult. _If I start yelling at kids to get off my lawn,_ he thought, _then let someone strike me down now._

Looking up in shock, the kids glanced at each other in irritation before dispersing. By the time he could really see the cat, they had already taken off in the direction of the nearby houses, granting him a full view of it as he knelt down.

It was really small. A kitten, he thought, maybe a couple months old. Either way, it didn’t look alive, but the small rise and fall of its stomach proved otherwise.

It was a grey tabby, that much he knew, curled up on top off a rumpled, tan trench coat. It was soaked from the rain, which had been coming down since about noon, it being five now.

“Someone must have dumped it here,” he spat under his breath. The realisation hit him with brutality. Were there really people like that? Apparently there were.

Spurred on by the repulsive act, Dean removed his jacket and carefully scooped up the thin cat into it. A small panic jolted through his mind when it was still, and he brought it close to his chest in an attempt to warm it up. After a moment he felt a small rumble through his jacket. Sure enough, as he leaned down to listen, he could hear a soft purr. It seemed to vibrate throughout its whole body, and it was a wonder that it had enough energy to do it at all. It didn’t open its eyes, though, but its soft purring continued steadily, which Dean took as a good sign.

Hugging the creature to his chest, Dean jogged back over to his car and opened it, happy to note that it was much warmer—and drier—on the inside.

He set the kitten on the passenger seat, turning on the heater to help warm up the little body. Without his jacket on, he was starting to feel just how chilly the rain was, and the idea that the kitten beside him had been outside in it made him grit his teeth as he flipped on the windshield wipers and put it into gear.

The twenty minute drive to his house had gone by quickly, a quiet chorus of Grateful Dead playing through his speakers. To be honest, he hadn’t thought much past getting home during the drive, and so when he pulled into the driveway and was greeted by an enthusiastic Ben running up to his car, it suddenly dawned on him that he had no idea how to explain himself to Lisa.

They had never really discussed having a pet much. Ben had asked for one a few months back, but they had been living in a small apartment at the time, so they had said no.

_But it’s not like I can just take it back to the shelter._

He shook his head and sighed.

“Hey Dean! Do you think we can go—”

Dean watched as Ben cut off, his eyes going wide in surprise. He was silent for a moment, his eyes never leaving the kitten, who was still sleeping in the passenger seat. Dean grew weary, studying Ben’s face for approval. What if Ben didn’t like it? Not that they were keeping it, of course, but if Ben didn’t like it then Lisa surely wouldn’t—

“We have a cat?” The ecstatic smile on Ben’s face broke Dean from his thoughts, and he couldn’t help but chuckle in a mixture of relief and amusement.

“Well, we have to ask your mother first, but—”

“MOM!!!” Ben took off inside the house, reminding Dean of a small racehorse. Well, there went one problem.

Scooping up the cat and his jacket once more, he crawled out his door and kicked the door closed, thankful that Ben had left the house door open in his haste. He was pretty sure that he could juggle the cat long enough to open the door, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances with a live animal. He kicked the door shut.

“Dean? What’s this Ben’s telling me about a cat?” Lisa came out of the living room, a happy Ben trailing behind her.

Well, maybe he still had some explaining to do.

He quirked a smile in an attempt to deflect some of the intensity of her gaze, but it didn’t seem to help much.

“I, uh, found him.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You found it? It could have diseases or something! Why didn’t you just take it to a shelter?”

“What, so they could kill him? Look at him, Lisa. He’s drenched and thinner than a stick. He hasn’t opened his eyes since before I picked him up, I almost thought he was dead.”

“Not all shelters kill,” she pointed out, but her eyes stayed on the little fur ball. Sensing an opportunity he held him out to her. She gave Dean a look.

“We’ll get him checked by a vet tomorrow. But come on, Lisa. What’s he gonna do? Tear up the couch? He won’t even move!”

Her eyes went soft as she returned her look to the small bundle. In the silence a faint purr could be heard, and Dean was pretty sure that was what had got her. She sighed.

“Alright. But if it’s got a disease we’re taking it to a shelter! Do you hear me?”

He grinned but nodded, looking at Ben. The boy let out a small whoop and did a little jig in celebration. He came up, looking at it still curled up in Dean’s jacket.

“He needs food!” he said, marching to the fridge. Ben pulled out the milk and a bowl out of the cupboard, pouring one into the other before bending over to set it down on the floor.

“Wait,” Dean said. “Bring that here. I want to make sure he smells it before I set him down.” Ben didn’t say anything, instead bringing the bowl up in front of Dean’s jacket. He dipped a finger in it, holding it out in front of its nose.

“Careful,” Lisa warned.

At first he continued to sleep, but then his whiskers started twitching. For the first time, Dean saw his eyes open.

Blue. Deep, crystal blue. The colour was a startling contrast to his neutral fur, but worked together in what he assumed was true cat-fashion. From what he understood, cats could look like spawns of Satan and still make it look cute, even if they did have horns and forked tongues.

Ben, happy that the cat was awake, but not wanting to startle him, brought the bowl up under its nose. It watched him cautiously for a moment before leaning over to lap up the fresh milk. Ben looked up at Dean, face beaming. Dean grinned back, and once Ben was preoccupied with the cat once more, Dean glanced back at Lisa pointedly. Her lips twitched, and she turned around before he could see the smile he knew she had.

“What do we name him?” Ben asked after a minute.

“Uh, maybe it’s not a good idea to name him before we know if he’s staying.”

Ben gave him a look. “So we’re just going to call him ‘Cat’ all night?”

Seeing his point, Dean shrugged. “Fine. Just don’t name him something stupid like Marley.”

“Marley was a dog.”

“Doesn’t change that it’s a stupid name.”

Ben rolled his eyes, putting the bowl on the counter now that the cat had finished eating.

“Hey, are you sure he’s a boy?”

Thinking, Dean grabbed the base of his tail and lifted his back end up. The cat let out a small meow of surprise, but otherwise didn’t do anything.

“Oh yeah,” he said hastily, putting his rear end back down. “He’s a boy alright.”

Ben grew silent, thinking as he stared at the cat. The cat returned the stare curiously.

“Jimi.”

“Jimi?” Dean asked, surprised. “Why Jimi?”

“For Jimi Hendrix. Duh,” Ben shrugged. Dean nodded his approval. He picked up Jimi, setting his coat down on the counter as he stared into his blue eyes. The cat looked oddly serious, Dean thought, but he supposed that waking up in a new place surrounded by strange people might do that to you. So he continued to stare into those blue eyes before quirking the corner of his mouth in an amused—and albeit disbelieving—smile.

“Well, Jimi; I guess you’re part of the family now, aren’t ya?”

The only response was a blink from little Jimi.

* * *

 

Cas hadn’t known what to expect when he woke up, but it hadn’t been food. Or warmth. It hadn’t been big, strong hands that were the size of his entire body and it certainly hadn’t been amused grins. But that was what he had gotten, and he was pretty thankful.

The milk had been a welcome smell, pulling him out of a deep slumber. He had been trying to sleep for as long as possible, to enjoy the warmth that he thought only existed in his dreams. It was cold out in the real world. Really cold. It sank into his skin and seemed to numb his thoughts to the point where he eventually just had to shut down. So when he had felt the warmth he couldn’t believe it to be real. He was certain it was the only time he had experienced the sensation, the way it thawed his bones and let him relax. He had automatically started purring, it had been so enjoyable. It was…nice.

Which was why he decided to trust this giant being. Whatever it was. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t wary of it, because he was. What _was_ this enormous…thing? It looked nothing like Cas. Not that Cas really knew what he looked like, but he could feel it. Feel the (dry) fur on his skin, feel the whiskers touching the side of giant’s arm. His ears stood atop his head, where they belonged, and he twitched them once just to be sure. Yep. Perfect.

This thing was more or less…bald. Hairless. The thought made Cas shudder. And upon further inspection, he saw no whiskers. And he wasn’t sure where its ears were, but they definitely weren’t on top of its head.

He felt the hairless creature lift him by the hind quarters, and he let out a yowl in surprise. What was going on? Was this some sort of hairless-being ritual? He had parts back there that weren’t meant to be seen!

With a sturdy sense of relief, he felt his rear end return to safety, and he tucked his tail under him for good measure.

Something else that was disconcerting to Cas was that there were two of them, and they looked _really_ similar. Granted, one was shorter than the other, but they still resembled one another enough that it was leaving him dizzy. Hopefully, once he fully understood what these things were, and was used to looking at them, he wouldn’t be so overwhelmed.

Speaking of overwhelming…whatever he was bundled in reeked. It smelled like the big one holding him, and that didn’t sit well with Cas at all. But before he could mark it, the big one picked him up under the arms (honestly, what was this thing trying to accomplish?) and stared directly at him.

“Well, Jimi.” Jimi? Who was Jimi? It surely wasn’t talking to him, was it? But Cas couldn’t think of any other reason it would be staring at him so intently, if not to be speaking to him directly. The look was a little disconcerting at first, but when the creature raised his lips in a smile Cas relaxed. Or as much as he could in the hold. “I guess you’re part of the family now, aren’t ya?”

He blinked.

…Family?


	2. All Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding a kitten on the side of the road, Dean takes him home to care for him. Cas, in the form of a graceless young feline, learns about human life through Dean, and experiences new emotions and discoveries which will help both him and Dean in the near future.

Couches were Cas’ favourite human thing.

They were comfy and squishy, had long limbs that he could spread out on and not fall off, and they made his claws feel better. He particularly enjoyed sitting on the back of these fancy inventions, which was what he was doing right now, watching contentedly.

Dean—as was the name of the human who had brought him “home” (another word he was happy to have learned)—was sitting a space down from him, lazily flipping “channels” on the “remote”. The remote, Cas had discovered, was a sacred item. And if it went missing, all of the humans in the home would become irate and frantic, searching in all rooms of the house.

Cas had been on the couch during this fright, and remembered being tossed about as Dean threw up the cushions. It was for this reason that Cas did not like the remote. That, and it tended to smell like cheese.

“Hey, Jimi.”

Cas was rendered out of his thoughts by the deep voice, and he brought his head up to regard its owner. Dean held out one hand to him, palm down and fingers out, in what he recognised was a call of some sort. He blinked.

“Come here so I can pet you.”

He cocked his head in question. This had been going on for the entire week he had been in the home. Dean would hold out his hand, as if wanting to touch him, but Cas still didn’t know what to do. Should he let this human touch him? He wasn’t sure. Humans didn’t seem bad, but the idea of letting one touch him was disconcerting to a degree. Something in him told him that it wouldn’t be a good idea to get too close to them (they did have a tendency to look like giant oafs—loud, obnoxious and a touch of clumsy) but there was something about this specific giant that made him feel at ease. Perhaps it was the fact that he always smelled pleasantly like meat.

This time, however, the hesitation won out.

Jumping down off the couch and onto the tile, Cas padded out to the laundry room to get himself a drink of water.

 

Dean sighed as Cas walked away. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t been excited after the trip to the vet’s office a week ago, when she told him that Cas was a perfectly healthy kitten. He had never realised before that he wanted a pet, but when the prospect of one was real, he discovered that the purring kitten had lulled him into a sweet sense of peace.

But Cas hadn’t let him touch him.

Well, occasionally, Dean would catch him off guard, but then Cas would wake up, give him a questioning look, and then walk away. Sometimes he would go off and clean himself, and Dean was positive this was aimed towards him as a message. A message he stubbornly ignored.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Dean heaved himself off his couch, quickly flipping the channel from “Dr Sexy, M.D.” to Top Gear.

He didn’t bother to use the peephole or the check through the blinds before opening the door. It was something that had earned him more than one lecture from Lisa, but honestly, who could kill him? He’d seen and dealt with more shit in his life than any brainless thief could try to pull on him.

Opening the door, Dean had to keep his jaw from dropping upon recognition of the tousled brown hair, accompanied by whom Dean could only regard as a very pretty blonde.

“Sammy?”

Sam Winchester, all six plus feet of tall, dark-haired and handsome, stared down at his brother and grinned. “Hey, Dean. Long time no see, huh?”

“Uh, y-yeah.” Dean glanced over to Jessica, smiling. “Hey Jess.”

“Hi!” she chirped, surprising him when she reached over and pulled him into a hug. After she let him go, Sam leaned in and took over, leaving Dean both thoroughly surprised and also pleased.

“Well, you two seem to be in a good mood.” He stepped aside, letting them walk into the room.

“We’ve been stuck in a car for two days. We’re ready for a break,” Jess laughed.

“I thought that flying was ‘so much better’?” Dean asked, closing the door behind them. From behind, he noted that it looked like Sam had grown even taller, if that was even possible. Jess looked healthy and happy, so he presumed that whatever brought them to stop by his humble abode must be pleasant news. This, at least, was encouraging.

“We wanted to see some places on the way,” Sam told him. “Jess had never been to the Chicago Art Institute.”

“Oh, yay,” Dean said sarcastically. “The one place everyone wants to go!”

“Hey, it’s actually pretty cool,” Sam defended half-heartedly. He hurried on though, grinning. “Lisa told us that you finally bought that old mechanic shop. That’s awesome!”

“Thanks,” he replied, wondering when Lisa had started talking to Sam, “How’s Stanford going?”

“Amazing!” Jess answered for him, and the two shared a look. Dean raised an eyebrow in question, but before he could ask, a small gray form below let out a “MEEEOWW”.

The three turned their gazes towards Cas, who sat on the floor looking up at them. Surprised, Sam swung his head back to Dean, who looked equally astonished, though his was more because it had been of the few times Cas had made a noise other than purring. He glanced up and caught Sam’s gaze, shrugging.

“When did you get a cat?”

“Last week.” Kneeling, Dean reached a hand out towards Cas. The kitten padded over, giving his fingers a sniff before turning back around and walking into the kitchen.

Of course. He was hungry.

“Dean found him outside in the rain and persuaded Mom to let us keep him!”

Ben walked into the living room, grinning happily. Returning the grin, Sam greeted the boy, not having seen him even longer than he had Dean. Still, he liked the young boy, reminding him of how Dean had been when they were younger. There were still times when Dean proved just how much the two were alike, though…thirty years old and still having the mentality of a teenager. God have mercy on Lisa.

“Still picking up strays?” he asked. Dean gave him a look.

“Hey, you were the one who brought home the turtles.”

“They were in the middle of the road!”

Rolling his eyes, Dean followed Cas into the kitchen as he continued his back-and-forth with Sam. Soon enough, he had filled Cas’ bowl with the kitten chow they had picked up on their way back from the vet’s office and placed it on the floor. Immediately the grey kit let out a purr of approval before dipping his head down to munch on the food.

“What’s his name?”

“Jimi,” Ben answered for him. “For Jimi Hendrix.”

“I should have known,” Sam laughed, the answer only helping prove his earlier thoughts.

Dean’s eyes were still on Cas as he knelt by the young kitten, though after a moment he glanced back up at his two visitors. “So, what are you two doing here?”

“We just thought we’d stop by. We haven’t seen you guys in ages.” Nodding, Ben stepped around the kitten to the cupboards, where he produced a bag of chips.

“Hey,” Dead said, stopping him in his tracks. “Have you eaten at all?”

“I’m about to.”

“You know the rules. You need to eat actual food first.”

Ben turned his head away and rolled his eyes, Dean knew it.

“You know food sounds pretty good,” Sam interjected. “Why don’t we go out for dinner? When does Lisa get off work?”

Dean glanced at the clock on the stove. It was only five-fifty, and Lisa got off at six exactly. “Ten minutes.”

Pleased that they wouldn’t have to wait for too long, thinking back to when their dad used to take lunch at the oddest hours, never at the same time two days in a row, Sam rubbed his hands together out of habit and smiled. “Perfect.”

 

Dean felt rather uncomfortable sitting in the fancy restaurant. He felt like his suit was choking him, yet Lisa had insisted he wear it. The suit, pulled from the depths of Dean’s closet, had needed to be dusted off, and once he had beaten it with a broom outside, he discovered that his suit was actually black, not grey. It just went to show how long he had gotten away with staying home, away from Lisa’s friend’s fancy dinner parties and what-not.

Within the first year of their relationship, Lisa and Dean had come to realise that not only was Dean highly uncomfortable and out of his element with Lisa’s “fancy friends” (that wasn’t to say that he didn’t enjoy a drink night with the rest of their friends, however), but Lisa also enjoyed the parties more when he didn’t go. Well, if she were perfectly honest, she hated those parties just as much as he did; she was simply kinder about it.

Ben similarly tugged on the collar of his suit, but was more preoccupied with munching on the breadsticks that rested on the table in front of them. Sam and Jess had yet to arrive, though the three had only just gotten there themselves. At the moment, the two visitors had gone off to do something really quickly, though Dean didn’t know what. He sighed.

“Sorry we’re late,” Sam said, sitting down. He too had a suit on, and Jess was in a very pretty purple dress.

“No problem,” Dean waved it off. “Now we can order.” It had taken him several minutes of constant staring at the menu in order to find something that didn’t have parts of animals he felt no one should eat, but eventually, at the very bottom of the last page, he found a meal that spoke to him.

“Double Bacon Cheeseburger.”

Land of the free, home of the saturated fats and greasy burgers. God Bless America.

Shortly after ordering, the conversation began. Dean and Sam had been talking about Dean’s mechanic shop and business, Lisa and Jess let out noises of surprised. The two brothers, alarmed, glanced at their girlfriends quickly.

“You’re engaged!” Lisa announced excitedly. Jess nodded, and Dean felt his neck almost snap as he stared open-jawed at his brother.

“You proposed?”

“Yep,” Sam affirmed. “It’s the main reason we’re here. We wanted you guys to be the first to know.”

Sammy’s all grown up, Dean thought, though he stood, Sam following suit, and gave him an enormous hug.

“Congrats, little brother!”

“Thanks.”

“So when’s the wedding?” Lisa asked Jess.

“We’re still deciding, though we were thinking maybe in May, after graduation, you know….”

Dean stopped listening as the girls droned on. Instead, he looked at his brother.

Sam was watching them, his face lit up as he gazed at his girlfriend—no, his fiancée. It was a look Dean had never seen on his face before, one of pure admiration. Of joy. His eyes crinkled at the corners, his mouth agape slightly as he grinned, and he wasn’t paying any attention at all to Lisa. His eyes were completely on Jess, and Dean would bet that the man probably hadn’t heard a word of what they were saying. And nothing proved just how much his little brother had grown up than this sight before him.

His chest tightened a little at the thought.

“Hey, Dean?”

Broken from his thoughts by Ben’s voice, Dean glanced over at the boy.

“Yeah?”

He squirmed, clutching his tie and tugging it away from his neck. “Can I go to the bathroom? All this marriage talk is making me dizzy.”

Glancing down, Dean smiled before murmuring under his breath. “You and me both, Kiddo.” He sighed, waving him off. “Alright. Go on.”

The boy all but darted towards the restrooms, but by the time Dean had glanced away from him and back at the rest of the table, he found himself being stared at.

“So, what about you guys?” Jess asked. Her tone held a note of teasing. “You’ve been together almost as long as we have.”

“Hoh, no,” Dean said, a side grin on his face as he attempted to deflect the question. “Lisa and I are doing just fine without bringing marriage into it.”

“Yeah but, you know, eventually we will,” Lisa added, casting a glance her boyfriend’s way.

“Well, you know my philosophy,” he raised his glass in a mock cheer. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

“I thought your philosophy was the five second rule.”

Despite the laughter, Dean was oblivious to the look Lisa gave him out of the corner of her eye.

 

“It was nice to see Sam and Jess again after so long,” Lisa said, taking off her and Ben’s coats as they came in the door. “But who would have guessed they’d be engaged!”

“Sammy’s always been a bit of a housewife,” replied Dean, shrugging his own coat off as he pulled at his tie, and then proceeded to flop down onto the couch.

“I think it’s nice that they love each other enough to be bound together.”

Casting her a look, Dean shook his head. “I just think that marriage is a little overrated. I mean, when you meet someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, you just do. You don’t need a paper to tell you that.”

She didn’t respond

 

Cas watched silently from the corner of the couch as the two larger humans conversed. Though oblivious to what they were saying, their tones gave him the impression that it wasn’t a pleasant one. The male on the couch glanced over at him, giving him a little smile. It made Cas feel a little better about the situation, which was odd.

 

Dean quirked a smile at Cas before returning his gaze to Lisa. She was standing off to the side, not really paying him attention at the moment. But before he could open his mouth to talk, he felt something brush against his hand.

Surprise didn’t even begin to cover what he felt when he looked down at where his fingers dangled off the edge of the couch. Cas rubbed, very, very gently against his hand with his head, and then looked up at him, his blue eyes wide and expectant. Cautiously, Dean raised his other hand above his lap and rubbed his fingers together, beckoning him to come up. Cas hesitated a moment, and then jumped up into his lap.

Something in his chest tightened at this tiny action, as Cas purred in his lap, and as Dean pet him for the first time since he was unconscious in his jacket.

“….I just think it’s a beautiful idea, don’t you think so?”

“Hm, yeah.” He hadn’t been listening.

Lisa pursed her lips as she realised this, and then breathed deeply out through her nose. Dean didn’t notice as he stroked the gray furball in his lap, smiling slightly. If there was one thing that he could say right now, it was that this tiny kitten was the most peaceful creature he could imagine, and just by sitting in his lap, all the tension in his shoulders had disappeared.

It was like he was a tiny angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said that this chapter would be better than the first. I also said that it would be out relatively soon. I was wrong on both counts. However, I have had the whole thing planned out. Next chapter it should get a bit more interesting!


End file.
